News from the Hill…
Bills are slowly getting filed and assigned to all the different committees. I was asked by someone from back home “What is the process involved for a bill to become law.” It is a lengthy process and space does not allow an explanation. However, here is a link that explains the bill process fairly well for those who may be interested.
https://www.legis.iowa.gov/DOCS/Resources/HowABillBecomesALaw.pdf
Your opinion matters…
Your opinion is very important to me and allows me to serve you better. We may not always agree, but if I do not know what your stance is I cannot accurately represent you. Many of you contact me by email, written letters and phone calls or show up in person to a legislative forum. The method you use is not important, just stay involved and let me know your points or opinions. This is my eleventh year in the Iowa House and many of you contact me regularly on issues. However, each week it seems we hear from some new people, which is always great. Different bills that have become law are directly related to ideas from people back home have had and have shared them with me. I was able to get them drafted into bill form and passed through the process for them to become law. Other times there have been what sounded like a good idea, but for one reason or the other it was not workable into law. The point is sharing your ideas does matter and I will do what I can to research the matter to see if it has merit in becoming law. But, I do want to warn you, I am not one who thinks our code of law should just grow for the sake of growing. We have too many useless laws on the books now, but there is always room for some good thoughtful ideas that run in union with our constitution. Sometimes that best idea is getting rid of a bad law that is presently in the Iowa Code.
Visitors on the Hill…
This week was Muscatine Day on Wednesday, January 23. There were about twenty individuals here at the state capitol visiting from the Muscatine area. This is a great way for people from back home to come to the capitol and see firsthand how government works. Also it is a way for a city to highlight everything it has to offer. Different communities, counties and/or regions do this with much success. Next week is Southeast Iowa Great River Days. There will be over a hundred people here from Louisa, Des Moines, Lee and Henry Counties highlighting Southeast Iowa. There also will be a group in conjunction with Great River Days from the program Empower U. This group is made up of juniors from several different high schools in Southeast Iowa. They will be making some presentations in front of some legislators on ideas they have for laws. This is a great program for our youth to witness the importance of being involved.
Ways and Means action…
One of the bills that were assigned to a subcommittee this week in the House Ways and Means committee is HSB 38. This bill deals with the Federal Tax Code changes that our Federal Government made on New Year’s Eve. Each year there are changes made at the Federal level on Income Taxes and the state has to decide if we are going to couple, go along with, or decouple, not allow, these changes on our State of Iowa Income Tax forms. The most important thing with this bill is it needs to move quickly, so all of our Income Tax preparers and Income Tax payers know what the rules are. The Federal Government made some of the changes retroactive to Tax Year 2012, so time is of the essence. The sub-committee meeting is set for Thursday afternoon and we will run this bill out of the ways and Means Committee on Monday, January 28.
Beginning each Day…
At the beginning of each day the first thing we do, once the Speaker brings his gavel down to bring us to order, is pray and then give our Pledge to the United States Flag. These might be little items, but they have large implications that help us to remember that it is God who leads us and the sacrifices that all of our veterans have made to preserve the liberties and freedoms we all share. I can’t think of a better way to start our day.
“America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.” – Abraham Lincoln
For more information on these and other bills: www.legis.iowa.gov
-Tom Sands
